Internal Vs. External HD Audio Decoding

[Kayne314]

All good points!

I agree. The lack of an Ethernet port almost got me to buy the Samsung BP1400, also a terrific machine. ( Is there really a bad Blu-Ray Player?)

Yup. As in my previous posts I did allude to the fact that the BD30 has it's share of problems, and isn't for everybody. I do, however think that it is the best unit for purely playing movies. I agree the firmware update thing could be a hassle for some people.

I'll clairify my statement, that I'll only recommend this player for people that have, or are looking to have a set-up that has full HD decoding.

All that being said, I'd still like to hear from others out there that are making use of the external HD audio decoding, and hear if they have heard a difference in their audio when switching between internal and external decodes.

It really could be all in my head. I am hearing an improvement, but maybe only a 25% clarification over internal/player decoding. My curiosity remains as to whether such an improvement has been heard by others, and to what degree they would rate the change.

Also, admitting to myself that the Onkyo receiver I have is essentially entry level HD Audio, I'd love to hear from a few real audiophiles about their Harmon Carden, or Yamaha, or whatever High-end HD Receiver they have, and how they feel about their decoding. Is it a 50% improvement? 100%? No change? Poorer?

I'm trying to gauge my experience against others with the same kind of equipment. As a sales-guy who sells HD equipment, I not only want the best for myself, I want to be able to sell to my customers the best thing for them. HD audio is an extremely new thing. I guess I'm trying to build a baseline for myself so I can talk intelligently about this stuff in the future.

Thanks again guys!